The Jacksonville City Council is delaying its decision on a settlement between the Police and Fire Pension Board, its former executive director and the city.
The Council plans to have a meeting in the shade to talk strategy.
The city filed a lawsuit in November to challenge the personal pension of former pension-fund director John Keane. The suit says the fund’s board, which Keane sat on, didn’t have the authority to create a special pension for him.
Keane’s plan is what’s called a Senior Staff Voluntary Retirement Plan.
A proposed settlement would have reduced Keane’s 2016 pension check from $234,000 to $228,000. Over a lifetime he’d still receive more than $2.5 million.
But many Council members, including Matt Schellenberg, didn’t want to settle for that amount.
“For three or four years, Mr. Keane has been wanting to go on vacation and retire and enjoy his grandchildren. By going to court we will aggravate the living hell out of him, and I’m all in favor of that,” he said. “We need to send a message, and that message is a principle thing: that people cannot be on these committees and arbitrarily do things that are illegal.”
An amendment to mesh Keane’s current plan with a General Employee Pension Plan failed. The plan would have paid Keane about $210,000 this year, a number in between the two plan amounts. Council member Anna Lopez Brosche said that could be the best option. But other members said they didn’t think Keane would agree to that number.
Now the bill is on hold for a private meeting, allowed under state Sunshine Laws to discuss strategy and options regarding pending litigation. Transcripts of shade meetings are released at a later date.
Council member John Crescimbeni was one of four who didn’t support postponing the bill, saying it sends a message Council may OK the settlement on the table.
The discussion is happening at the same time the city is looking at having the public vote on a sales tax extension to pay off more than $2 billion in pension debt.
On Tuesday, the Council also voted to put a hold on a bill prohibiting members from responding to, and requiring them to disclose, texts from lobbyists and union reps about bills during meetings. The Council’s Rules Committee will take another look at the proposal.
But the Council moved forward on approving $700,000 for summer camp for kids who can’t afford it, and $150,000 is going to improvements at the Jacksonville Farmer’s Market on Beaver Street.